Variations on a Theme: Suite Bergamasque
by Dr. Holland
Summary: My responses for the Chair Week 2013 challenge – seven Chuck and Blair vignettes, set in the Clair de Lune universe. (There may be spoilers.) Dedicated to my Chair lovelies who have been such great readers and friends over the past year... each short story is dedicated to a different shipper.
1. Contentment

**SUITE BERGAMASQUE**

**Summary:** My responses for the Chair Week 2013 challenge – seven Chuck and Blair vignettes, set in the _Clair de Lune _universe. (There may be spoilers.) Dedicated to my Chair lovelies who have been such wonderful friends and readers over the past year... each short story is dedicated to a different shipper.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing in the Gossip Girl universe, not even (sadly) Chuck or Nate. Major props to Cecily von Ziegesar, the CW, the producers, actors, and crew, and everyone involved with bringing these amazing characters to life.

**Day 1 – Contentment  
**

(Prompt: Pregnancy)

_December 2017 to January 2018._

Blair knew that she was pregnant before she had the time to ask Clemence to buy a number of things from the drugstore, including a test. And of course, Chuck knew before _she _knew.

She'd had inklings before the confirmation that was sitting on her marble vanity. There was the unusual fatigue during the week or so before Serena's wedding, the tenderness of her breasts that was particularly noticeable during her cherished sexytimes with her husband. But she really wasn't nauseated, and during her first trimester with Henry, things had got so bad that people thought her bulimia was back. So she ignored the signs at first.

It was a good thing that she wasn't sick all the time. 2017 had been a banner year for her company. Blair had begun it by making the cover of _Forbes _magazine, and her only regret was that Chuck had made it first, two years before, with the historic expansion of Bass Enterprises. They'd summered in France as usual, but both Chuck and Blair had to interrupt their vacations with side trips to attend to business. (That was when Blair promoted Jenny from line designer to lead, and gave her the title of creative director... as much as she loved her business, family came first for Blair Waldorf Bass. Never would she interrupt her private time with her husband and son again.)

Then came the news at the end of the summer that Dan had _finally _proposed to Serena on S's birthday. Blair, keeping her misgivings about whether Dan had done enough to make it up for the way he'd treated her BFF and sister-in-law over the years to herself, gave them her blessing and offered to throw the wedding herself.

_Famous _last words. The wedding of Dan and Serena Humphrey nearly turned Blair's hair _gray _from the stress. Everything that could possibly go wrong did. Instead of going with a Bass hotel, they went with the stupid Waldorf-Astoria (_no _relation to _her _family), who then claimed to have "overbooked" when some billionaire sheikh bought out the place for the entire month of December. Never mind that Serena had paid her deposit. (But then again, Blair thought derisively, that was what S got for marrying a man who couldn't throw his weight around a little to get things done.)

Then there was the trouble Henry had at school. His first preschool teacher, an awful Occupy Wall Street type, was a _disaster. _Clearly, the woman had something against her child simply because he was a Bass. Henry came home crying the first day of school, and on the second day, Blair had marched up to the classroom herself and given the woman a warning. The second time, when the teacher had the nerve to call her child "spoiled?" The bitch was fired. (Chuck, in an aside at the headmistresses' office, had suggested another line of work... not that she'd find _any _doors open to her in New York.)

Still, that situation had rectified itself by the end of September. These days, Henry was thriving at the 92nd Street Y's day school. Blair couldn't have felt prouder of her little boy as he brought home artwork, sang his little songs that he and his friends learned from their music teacher, and began reading some of the easiest picture books that filled the shelves in his playroom.

Chuck had hinted around at adding to their family, but Blair was so busy that she didn't think it was the right time. Perhaps when Henry was in kindergarten...

But the day after Dan and Serena's wedding, Blair _knew. _The martini she'd had in the living room, sitting with Chuck, Eric, Nate, and Jenny had been her very last drink. It had been two weeks since then, and she now had the evidence before her eyes...

She was pregnant!

**XOXOXOXOXOXO**

Chuck opened the door of the master suite slowly. Over the years, he and Blair had turned the upper floor of their townhouse into their sanctuary. Their suite was almost an apartment in and of itself. There was the gigantic bedroom with its custom bed, a sitting room that used to be Henry's nursery before he was old enough for a set of rooms of his own, two huge walk-in closets, and a master bath and _spa _with built-in sauna/steam room, sunken tub, separate shower large enough for two, and two vanities.

"Blair?" he called out. He'd left Henry sleeping downstairs, and Dorota was gone. The only other occupants of their home were the cook and the driver, whose quarters were on the first floor and in the basement, respectively.

"In here."

Chuck walked into their bathroom. His wife was sitting at her vanity, already dressed for bed, a silk nightgown covering the body he so loved to worship. Her long, dark curls were freed from hairpins and headbands, and fell over one shoulder.

"Chuck..." she said, ever so softly.

It was then that he knew. "We've having another baby."

"Yes." She held up the positive test.

"Yes," he repeated, and it was not a question. "Yes... _yes!"_

Lifting her out of the chair, he spun her around, laughing as she chortled and kissed him, small hands grabbing his face, sweet lips touching any spot they could reach. It was a while before he allowed her feet to touch the ground.

"Best news I've heard since our son was born," was his verdict. "You'll call..."

"Verna first thing in the morning to coordinate our schedules so you're there for every single appointment? Of course." They kissed, hot, long and deep. "Mmm. Once again, timing has never been our strong suit."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we're in the middle of _everything. _You're in the middle of that takeover that no one's supposed to know about, I've got Fashion Week and a dress design that's going _viral, _and don't even get me _started _on our clueless friends. It's like we're juggling _everything."_

"That's because we are. King and Queen of New York... all part of the job description, of course." His hands caressed her still-flat midriff. "It's a girl."

"Oh, that's so cliché." Of course, he knew that she wanted nothing more than a little daughter, although they would also delight in another boy... and keep trying for more kids, no matter what happened. "Chuck, I love you so much. I love the life I have with you."

In response, Chuck lifted her off her feet, and took her to bed.

**XOXOXOXOXO**

It was a few weeks later that Blair came to breakfast and found the beautiful Tiffany heart diary on her plate. At first, she didn't notice it as she continued the rant she'd begun as they dressed, and only ended when Henry banged on their door, asking his dad if it was time to shave.

"I swear, Chuck, if Jenny's thing with our best friend ruins Fashion Week this year, I'll kill them _both. _Never have I seen two more..." She trailed off, picking up the diary. "What's this?"

"Daddy said it's for you!" giggling Henry, crunching on his cereal.

"It's for me... let's see, it looks a lot like the diaries I kept when I was a little girl," said Blair. It had been the contents of one of those diaries that had, in the end, brought Chuck back to her... or really, brought her back to Chuck.

"Open it."

Blair did. Inside, there was an inscription written in Chuck's bold handwriting.

_From Mother to Daughter... The Diary of Blair and _ Bass._

Her eyes filled with tears. "Chuck..."

"I thought you could start writing to her now, every day. Someday, years from now, I think she'd treasure knowing how much you loved her even before you saw her face."

Blair couldn't even point out that they had no idea whether the baby was a boy or a girl yet (although, deep down, she knew that her new little one would be a girl.) Opening her mouth, all that came out was a sob...

"Mommy, why are you crying?" Henry frowned, as Chuck took her by the hand, drew her to sit, and began to kiss the tears away.

"Because I love you and Daddy so much," she breathed. "You mean the world to me. There's nothing more important to me than the two of you."

Henry laughed. "You're the best Mommy in the world."

Chuck kissed her gently on the lips, and reached out to ruffle his son's hair.

In that moment, Blair felt perfectly content. She couldn't wait to welcome her new baby girl into the world.

**~fin~**

**A/N: **Dedicated to Carly, who is one of the kindest, most wonderful ladies on the Chair ship. I love you because along with Maryl (who of course, will get a chapter of her own later in the week), you gave me _Scandal _to console my shipper heart after _Gossip Girl _ended. You're one of my favorites in the fandom!


	2. Legacy

**SUITE BERGAMASQUE**

**Summary:** My responses for the Chair Week 2013 challenge – seven Chuck and Blair vignettes, set in the _Clair de Lune _universe. Dedicated to my Chair lovelies who faithfully follow all of my work... each short story is dedicated to a different shipper.

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing in the Gossip Girl universe, not even (sadly) Chuck or Nate. Major props to Cecily von Ziegesar, the CW, the producers, actors, and crew, and everyone involved with bringing these amazing characters to life.

**NOTE: There are ****spoilers**** for **_**Clair de Lune **_**below.**

**Day 2 – Legacy**

(Prompt: Children)

_September 2021._

It had only been ten years since the last Taschen _Modern Royalty _volume, and there were those who felt that it wasn't yet time to do another edition. After all, most of the prominent families on the Upper East Side and elsewhere around the United States were still very prominent. But the company received a phone call that they couldn't refuse, so they agreed to a second edition.

The news that there would be a new edition set the élite a-buzz. Gossip about which families were in and which were out abounded. Some were anxious, but not Blair Waldorf Bass. Instead, she was overseeing the last touches on her precious three-year-old daughters' dresses, which were being hand-sewn by none other than the First Lady of New York herself, who still worked for Waldorf Designs. (Blair Bass _quite_ enjoyed being a queen of queens... an _empress._)

"Did you _really _choose that lace pattern, Jenny?"

Jenny looked up from her machine. "Did you _really _say you trusted me to make the twins' dresses, Blair?"

"That's the same lace that Serena picked for _her _daughter's dress! I wanted the wider English lace..."

"You told me that this antique Flemish lace was just fine! Besides, what does it matter? Mechlin is close anyway..."

"And that is why you have a _son," _Blair replied scathingly, "and not a _daughter."_

"No, that's why I've been extremely busy, and you should have had Clemence order the lace you wanted yourself," Jenny snapped. "You know we've had almost a dozen fundraisers for the national party over the past three months..."

"It's called multitasking, J! Think about it. Women on the frontier had to do it all! No excuses! Chop chop chop..."

"You know, I could _chop_ myself all the way back home," snapped Jenny, "and leave _you _to finish these dresses yourself."

"Don't be so dramatic_, _Jenny. Call one of the interns..."

"The Honiton lace is tacky, Blair. I've always hated it. It reminds me of doilies at someone's tacky grandmother's house. Mechlin or Chantilly is what looks best."

"Did you just call _me _tacky?"

"No, I called your choice in lace tacky."

"_Get out."_

Jenny scoffed. "Are you serious?"

"Do you see me smiling? Stop sewing, I'll get an intern to do it..."

"Hey, what's going on in here?" asked Serena, breezing in with a smile. A small girl with beautiful dark curls like her father, and sparkling blue eyes like her mother, was holding her hand. She grinned and started jumping up and down when saw her aunts.

"Teetee!" She ran first to Blair, who picked her up and kissed her.

"How's my darling Autumn?" For the time, Blair was mollified.

"Good!" The little girl smiled, then waved happily at Jenny, who blew her a kiss. (The children knew not to get too close to her when she was sewing... they'd learned the hard way from overeager toddler Henry Bass many years before.)

"So what are you two fighting about this time?" Serena asked. It was a regular occurrence between the three women. Usually two of them were annoyed with each other, leaving the third to mediate.

"Jenny is putting the world's ugliest lace on my girls' dresses!" complained Blair. "I should have known not to trust the _edgy _designer with my children's attire."

"Blair, our girls' collection is out of stock everywhere," Jenny pointed out. "I think I did all right."

"Well, Audie _loves _everything her Aunt J makes for her," Serena said. "You know how much she loves her receiving blanket."

"Yes, and I also know how much my son hated _his,"_ Jenny laughed. "He would scream every time it was near him. I felt like a terrible mother."

"Not terrible, just a lot like _my _mother," Blair fussed, taking Autumn in the direction she was pointing (toward a candy jar). "Will is with his father more than he's here, when I did the _opposite _with Henry."

Jenny sighed. "That kid does love being in the mayor's office. Sometimes I think he believes _he's _the one running New York City."

"Two and a half? Oh, I'd say that's when the Vanderbilts start indoctrinating their heirs," teased Serena, sitting down on the chair nearest Jenny's sewing machine. "My sister-in-law... wife _and_ mother to politicians."

"Ugh, bite your tongue," snapped Jenny, reaching for a seam ripper to snap a thread. "I hope my kid becomes a dentist. You know, why couldn't Nate have been a musician like my dad was? Our lives would be easier."

Serena laughed. "Um, have you heard the man sing? That's a _really _bad idea!"

"Well, S, it's not so farfetched! After all, it's not as if he didn't kick a massive _drug habit _that killed half the cells in his already underdeveloped brain," Blair declared.

Jenny's eyes narrowed. Blair _knew _she'd hit a nerve... Little J was always a little too sensitive where her husband was concerned. At least Nate knew it was all in good fun!

"Blair, if Nate was an addict, then what does that make Chuck?"

Blair's eyes narrowed in response.

"Exactly! I don't think you have any room to talk about Nate, when _Chuck _is the reason he_..."_

"Do go on, Jennifer. Exactly what evil deed have I supposedly corrupted your husband into doing this time?"

The three women turned around. Autumn bounced out of her Aunt B's arms without a second thought...

"Unca _Chuck_!" The tiny girl squealed as Chuck lifted her high above her head, while Blair protested ("She just ate candy, Chuck! Stop, she might choke!"), Serena folded her arms ("You know, I'm still annoyed that _yours _was the first name she learned to say"), and Jenny shrugged and went back to her sewing.

"Ladies, I've come to sweep the most gorgeous woman in all of New York off her feet... not even making an exception for you, sis." (It was a joke; Serena had just appeared on her millionth_ "_Most Beautiful" list for some online magazine or the other.)

Serena laughed as Autumn pecked her beloved uncle's cheek, then ran back to her mother. "Don't mind at all."

Blair strolled over to her husband, a smile playing around her lips. She was glad she'd worn this figure-skimming Chanel dress today, along with her new glass-heeled stilettos by up-and-coming designer Obi Zymatica that were all the rage these days... not the tacky stripper heels of a decade or two before, but a slender, elegant translucent heel on a traditional pump.

Chuck looked good enough to eat, Blair decided. There wasn't a man in the city that cut a _sexier _figure in a suit. He rarely wore this slate gray one, but a royal purple tie and pocket square showcased his personal flair. (Although she'd left home this morning before him, she _knew _he was wearing purple socks to match. And she'd bet anything they were the purple and green striped ones that their Henry _insisted _having a pair to match.)

"Hey," Blair cooed, going to his arms, and giggling a little when he dipped her down for a searing kiss. As if they hadn't just seen each other (and enjoyed each other) three and a half short hours before.

"Mmm," he said, pulling her into the hallway just outside her office. "I've cleared my schedule... can you clear yours?"

"Anything for you, my love," Blair sighed, kissing him again. "What did you have in mind? And why didn't you tell me at home? I went to La Perla over the weekend... I have something I'd like to show you... I think you'll _love _it."

"As wonderful as that sounds, you'll have to model it for me tonight. We have other plans... of course, that doesn't preclude me from enjoying a... let's say, _impromptu... _strip show between now and then."

And when he found his favorite spot on her neck, Blair shuddered.

"Well, Bass, what are you waiting for?" she said. "Let's go."

**XOXOXOXOXOXO**

Their first stop was the Alexander McQueen store in Chelsea.

"Chuck," Blair said slowly. "Why are we here? Alexander McQueen isn't even in the same league as Waldorf these days..."

"You'll see."

He'd gotten out of the limo, and was holding out his hand. Shooting him her best "this had better be worth it!" look, Blair took it, and slid out. Her delicate Zymatica heels clicked against the pavement...

"I have the finest wife in all of New York City," he whispered, kissing her behind her ear. (Blair was glad she'd worn her hair up. He _loved _it that way, and she knew it.) "I hope you like this."

"Like what? Chuck, you know how I am about surprises..."

"I know, which is why this is only _partly _a surprise."

Fifteen minutes later, Blair understood perfectly what Chuck meant. She was in a back salon of the store, embracing Dame Sarah Burton, creative director and lead designer for Alexander McQueen. Sarah had enjoyed a decade of unprecedented success after designing the wedding gown for Duchess Kate Middleton when she married Prince William, heir to the British throne.

"I hear you've got a little photo op coming up, Blair," said Sarah pleasantly. "I must admit that I was surprised to get the call... especially after I was _green _with envy over Waldorf's fall collection at Fashion Week. Tell Jenny I still owe her that lunch, from one CD to another!"

Blair laughed. "We're all busy, especially you! Congratulations on your new line! How are you doing that and still working for Alexander?"

"Same arrangement that you have at Waldorf with Jenny, I'd imagine. I want to honor Alexander's memory, just like I know that you and your mother have a great symbiosis with her. Anyway, we're not here for industry talk... we're here to unveil my newest line."

Blair looked over at Chuck. He was trying (but not succeeding) to hide a wide smile.

"What's going on? Spill it, people."

Sarah beckoned her to the next room. And what Blair saw there made her jaw drop.

"Introducing my newest line... the Blair Bass collection." She indicated the nine dresses, all on wire dress forms. "Don't worry, I've already talked things over with Jenny. We're celebrating _you, _Blair, and ten successful years in the industry raising the profile of Waldorf, being a visionary in the industry, and setting trends for the entire fashion world."

She gasped. "Chuck!"

"I've done a line, and so have some of your other friends. All sponsored by your husband, of course... there will be an event to celebrate your accomplishments in November."

Blair turned around, and flew into his arms.

"What am I going to do with you?" she murmured happily as Sarah gave them a moment of privacy. "It's been _nine _years, Chuck..."

"Fifteen," he corrected her. "Fifteen years that I've been in love with you. Sarah's the first of fifteen designers whose work will be honoring you. And as the designer to the next Queen of England, I wanted _my _queen to wear her work when we take our family picture."

She beamed.

"I've already got my dress for that," she said softly, kissing him. "But thank you... it looks as if I'm all set for the social season this year."

He smiled back, but Blair instantly knew something was wrong. It was in his eyes.

"Oh," she said softly. "You wanted me to wear one of these."

"I thought you could take your pick," he said slowly. "I know how much my Blair _dearly _loves to shop. I only wanted something worthy of my life partner, lover, and the mother of our three _beautiful _children."

"And it will be," she told him. It was hard disappointing him, but she couldn't wait to see the look on his face. "I promise."

"No promises necessary," he told her, kissing her slowly. "You made me all the promises I needed on that December day nine years ago when you agreed to be my wife."

Blair smiled, and hungrily pulled him back to her.

"I hope Sarah locked that door."

**XOXOXOXOXOXO**

"DADDY!"

The bloodcurdling scream bounced off the walls, rolled down the hall, and reached Chuck in his study. He raced toward the girls' playroom, ready to chastise, fire, and/or murder the staff person responsible, in that order.

Instead, he saw one of his girls screaming her head off, reaching in vain for a broken doll that someone was holding out of her reach.

"_Henry," _Chuck said. "What are you doing?"

"Dad, Audrey's cut her doll's hair _again," _he said, with all the annoyance that a seven-year-old could muster. "Mom told her that if she did it, she wouldn't have any more dolls _ever."_

There was a little laugh and sniffle from within the large playhouse in the corner. Chuck shook his head as he looked into the mischievous, almond-shaped hazel eyes that were so much like his own.

"Kate, get out of there, and stop laughing at your sister." He tried not to laugh; little Katharine Bass was as much like him as Audrey was like her mother and Henry was the perfect blend of them both. "Where is the nanny?"

"I don't know, Dad," Henry said, speaking for all the Bass kids (as he usually did). "I think she's off in her quarters, talking to her boyfriend or something... _again." _

Chuck inwardly groaned. Good help was extraordinarily difficult to find. Difficult in part because the Bass children required tender loving care (as he preferred to think of it, although he'd heard that idiot of a Humphrey brother-in-law call them "high maintenance," something that he _never _did again in Chuck's hearing). He'd have to tell Blair that he fired another nanny.

"Give me that doll, Henry."

Henry gave it up, knowing better than to cross his father.

"Now listen to me. If Audrey wants to shave the hair of _all _of her dolls, let her. They are her dolls and no one else's. Do you understand?"

"But Dad, I..."

"Henry, I'm not in the habit of repeating myself. _Do you understand?"_

Father and son's eyes met.

"Yes," said Henry. "I was only trying to help."

"I know, you're an amazing big brother. Tell you what. Go find Nanny and tell her that her presence is required by me in the girls' playroom. Then go find Thomas and ask him for your suit."

"Is today picture day?" asked Henry.

"Yes, it is. We need to get ready."

Audrey came running over to Chuck, who handed her the shaved-haired doll.

"Daddy, Daddy, is Mommy home?"

"No, she's going to meet us at the Palace Hotel."

"Ooh!" said Katharine. "Can we bring our jammies? I want to stay the night!"

Chuck grinned, knowing which kid would clamor to have her own suite there in her teen years. _Over my dead body, _he thought, remembering all the trouble he'd gotten into. "Maybe."

All three kids were excited to hear that!

"Dad," said Henry contentedly as the girls attacked his legs, earning them both a tickle, "you are the _best."_

**XOXOXOXOXOXO**

Blair looked at herself in the full-length mirror in Suite 1812 at the Palace. She was extremely satisfied with her appearance. Her hair was up with a few wispy tendrils framing her face. Her makeup was flawless, but of course, it would be, featuring her favorite red Chanel lipstick.

She loved the dress she had on, too. Sure, it wasn't exactly a Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen frock, but she couldn't wait to see the look on her husband's face.

Leaving the suite, she made her way down to the set of ballrooms where the photo sessions would take place. Chuck had texted that he and the children were on their way. She'd wanted to be the one to dress her girls and be sure that Henry chose a tie or ascot that wasn't _too _outrageous, but Chuck had arranged a day at the spa for her. Her manicure and pedicure were freshly done, expert massages had left her totally relaxed, and after a facial, her skin just _glowed._

"B, you look lovely!" Serena was beaming at her, walking down the hall. For once, Blair felt every bit her best friend's equal, if not her superior. She knew she was at her best.

"Thank you. Where's your family?"

Serena sighed. "Dan said he wasn't going to do this until I told him how much it'd mean to me. So we were on our way, but Autumn had a little accident..." She trailed off. "Dan took her home to change. They're almost back."

Blair shook her head. "S, I told you the girl is _not _potty trained! Pull-ups, not panties! She's not even three yet..."

"Excuse me, but Audie is plenty smart! She uses the potty just fine when _I'm _not around..."

Blair and Serena caught each other's eyes.

Then they started laughing, Blair clinging lightly to her best friend in her mirth.

"We're wearing dresses that cost thousands and jewelry in the hundred thousands, S. How did we become two mothers, using words like 'potty?'"

Serena shook her head, but she was still smiling. "Well, I think that can be blamed on my penchant for... how do you say it... 'all things outer borough'... and _your _fondness for purple, paisley, and the backs of limousines..."

Blair poked her in her sequin-covered ribs. "Hey, I'm a respectable matron of the Upper East Side! I have no idea what you're talking about."

The smartphone in Blair's handbag chimed. She held up a finger to Serena (who looked as if she was going to retaliate), then looked at the message.

_We're downstairs. _

"That's Chuck," Blair said. "I'll see you later."

"Okay."

**XOXOXOXOXOXO**

"You know, Uncle Nate, when you said that Will would be like my brother," Henry observed, "you didn't tell me he'd be so _little."_

Chuck and Nate both laughed. Now that they were away from the cameras that clamored to get inside of the hotel, and the entourage that constantly surrounded them both, they could be themselves.

"Oh, I think Will here would beg to differ," said Nate, putting his two-year-old son down so that he could run after Kate through the lobby. "He thinks he's plenty big."

"Perhaps for a _baby," _Henry complained. "He can't even play video games yet!"

"He'll catch up to you one day, Hen," Chuck assured his son. "It will just take a while."

"Daddy, where's Mommy?" Audrey wanted to know.

"You know, princess, that's a good question," Chuck said slowly, looking up at the balcony and the stairs at the hotel. "I think she'll..."

But then a vision appeared at the top of the stairs.

"MOMMY, MOMMY!" Kate yelled.

Audrey giggled. "Mommy, you're _pretty," _she called out.

Henry just _wolf-whistled _as his mother came down the stairs. "Looking good, Mom!"

"Yeah, _Mom _is the operative word there, kid," said Nate, giving his nephew and godson an affectionate noogie as Henry laughed and ducked away.

Finished with her descent, Blair walked over to where they were standing. As always, she and Chuck only had eyes for one another... but she could also multitask.

"Hello, Mr. Mayor. Before you ask, _yes, _she was still pinning hems when you texted me, and _yes, _I forced her to stop and get dressed. She's waiting for you two in the Ambassador Salon." Having finally reached her family, she grabbed her twin daughters' hands, and curtsied low enough for Henry to kiss her cheek. "You're _welcome_, Nate."

"Thanks, Blair," Nate replied, now focused on the staircase that would take him to his wife. "See you later, man... come on, Will, let's go find Mommy."

Chuck was _speechless._

"Blair, you... you..."

Her eyes caressed him like velvet. "Told you that you'd like it... do you?"

"I _love _it."

"Better than Sarah Burton, wouldn't you say?"

"Oh... _much better."_

They held each other in their eyes. Saying all the things that they couldn't in front of their children...

"Mom, Dad, come _on!" _laughed Henry. "You guys are so _weird."_

So the Bass family headed up for their appointment.

**XOXOXOXOXOXO**

The 2021 edition of _Modern Royalty _was ever after considered a classic volume (and a watershed moment) in the annals of the Manhattan élite. For most of the powerful families, it was a matter of updating their photograph and captions.

But this time, there were some new entries.

Rufus and Lily Humphrey were back, but this time instead of parents, they were empty nesters. CeCe Rhodes had passed away. Carol was still in prison. William was in Bangladesh, setting up yet another clinic for the poor. Ivy was making her fortune as the Jackie Collins of her generation, but wasn't exactly welcome at gatherings like this. Eric was living in California, finishing his residency and enjoying newlywed bliss with his husband, Ron. And Lola and Scott only stayed in infrequent touch. (They did talk to Vanessa, Scott's wife of two years, often, and saw their little granddaughter Anais as often as they could.)

It was a notable entry. Long after Lily's many marriages had been reduced to a historical footnote, people would look back and marvel at their place. For they were the parents, either through birth, adoption, or marriage, of the most influential generation of the Upper East Side in the twenty-first century.

First, there were the Archibalds. Nathaniel, extremely popular and charismatic mayor of New York City, youngest to ever hold the office. His mercurial, talented wife Jennifer, lead designer at Waldorf, First Lady of the Big Apple. And their cherub-faced son, William Rufus, who was always called Will... and who, much to his mother's private chagrin_, _was invariably referred to by the press as "New York's Baby."

("Because _New York _had nothing to do with our kid being here," Jenny would complain to Nate. To which her husband would reply, "But New York had everything to do with it, sweetheart! After all, we made him the night that New York..." but he wouldn't finish, because she'd threaten him with bodily harm, which amused him to no end.)

They were dressed far more conservatively than some might have guessed they would be. Nate wore a dark blue suit, and Jenny wore a simple navy sheath dress... with, of course, her own pair of Zymatica glass heels. She'd traded her usually ever-present Cartier blue diamond for the Vanderbilt heirloom ring, but the earrings that she wore were new, as was the diamond pendant.

It was easy to make good-natured Will smile for the cameras. He sat on Nate's lap, and Jenny leaned forward to kiss her son as he giggled. Nate's arm was wrapped around her, as they sat together on the antique loveseat... and the little family was all smiles...

The photographers captured it all. Brooklyn's Cinderella, with Manhattan's Prince Charming. Living happily ever after.

Next, the Humphreys. Daniel, associate professor of creative writing at Columbia, bestselling novelist, and editor-in-chief at the _Spectator_. His wife, Serena, former teenaged It Girl, former executive director at the Bass Foundation, now president and CEO of the Spectator Media Group. And their _darling _little daughter, Autumn Celia, whom Dan was already teaching to read.

(There were those who called Autumn _the most beautiful child on the Upper East Side. _But Serena was frightened of history repeating itself in her daughter, and Dan was not having it. He was notorious for _embarrassing _people who gushed over his daughter's beauty, or even worse, asked if they could photograph her. His friends tended to think he was overreacting, but Serena fully supported him. She didn't want Autumn to go through the pain she'd experienced, and was glad she had a dad to protect her. _Brains over beauty always... you can be smart _and _pretty, _was her mantra for her little girl... something that Autumn took in every night as her mother brushed her hair. _You are worth the world._)

Serena's beautiful "yellow roses" dress inspired the photographer to seat her in a polished mahogany chair. Dan stood behind his wife, with a caressing hand on her shoulder, looking slightly uncomfortable in his Thom Browne suit jacket and slacks. Autumn, wearing her Aunt J's rose-pink confection of a dress, trimmed with Chantilly lace, leaned into her mother, as both her parents gazed lovingly down at her.

The princess and the pauper, indeed. Or perhaps Henry Higgins, living blissfully forever with Eliza Doolittle simply because he'd "grown accustomed to her face."

Finally, near the end of the session, came the photograph that everyone had been waiting for. It was a photograph that would become iconic, reprinted whenever the Bass family was in the news for decades afterward, and eventually, passed down to generations to whom their family founders were only names in books and portraits on the walls of many grand homes.

The three Bass children – Henry Charles, Audrey Lillian, and Katharine Eleanor – were seated on ottomans upholstered in the finest silk. Henry was in the middle, dressed in a black suit, with a little purple ascot tied at his throat. On either side of him were the twins, in red velvet dresses, trimmed by Jenny in the ivory _Honiton _lace that Blair had originally requested. Identical red headbands were in their lovely brown curls, and black ribbon sashes were tied around their waists.

Charles Bartholomew, mogul in real estate, hospitality, and construction, the most powerful businessman in his generation, was wearing the same black suit and shirt that he'd worn in his Taschen picture a decade before. But other than that, the two pictures couldn't have been more different. In the first, his face had been that of a hopeless man, one whose dreams had been crushed, whose fondest wishes could never come true.

In the new photograph, he looked almost completely different. At thirty, he somehow looked even _younger _than he had at twenty. The lines of his face were still handsomely patrician, belying his father's baseborn origins, but fewer of his expressions were as severe or as calculating. His hands were not bare, but the left ring finger featured the platinum wedding band that he never took off.

And his hand wasn't empty, either. For beside him was Blair, standing with him, hand in hand, then arm in arm, right behind their three wonderful children...

Blair. _His _wife. _His _children's mother...

Wearing the dress that he'd chosen for her ten years before, the "Princess Diana" dress she'd refused to wear back then when she called him a child for scheming against Dan Humphrey.

She looked as lovely in it as he knew she would. And perhaps, she looked even lovelier in it at thirty-one than she would have at twenty-one. So many of her insecurities and uncertainties from back then had been erased from her face forever. In their place, there was maturity, grace, and even _kindness _(Blair Waldorf, _kind?) _that was the harvest from a life well lived, lessons learned, secrets kept, joys celebrated, sorrows endured...

...and _love_ beyond measure, symbolized by the Harry Winston that sparkled on her left ring finger, paired with a wedding band which bore an inscription that was identical to her husband's.

_3 words. 8 letters._

The photographers _marveled _at them. Each of the other families had taken a little work. Stand here, move there, get closer, don't flinch, _please _don't frown... twenty to thirty snapshots taken, and perhaps one or two good enough to choose from.

That wasn't the Basses, however.

The first picture taken was _perfect._

**XOXOXOXOXO**

Later that night, over glasses of Dom (and with the children enjoying a sleepover with their Aunt Serena's family), Chuck told Blair what wearing that dress meant to him.

"You once told me that everything occurred to me," he said, fingers against her lips as she kissed their tips lightly. "I think that applies to you as well."

"It was time," she said simply. "I called Taschen, but there was no real arm-twisting involved... which is refreshing, I must say. And the second they agreed, I knew what I would be wearing... do you know how many times I've replayed that day in my head, Chuck?"

"That day..." He trailed off, tearing his eyes away from her to stare into the candlelight. "That day will stay with me always, Blair. I thought we were ready then."

"I should have trusted it more," she replied, bringing the back of his broad hand up to her full lips to kiss tenderly. "Should have trusted you."

"No. I had to earn your trust."

"And earn it you did," she said, taking his champagne glass away. "Today was perfect."

"It was. Thank you for my surprise." Pause. "I have something else for you, Blair."

"What is it?"

He handed her an envelope. Blair didn't have to be told to open it. After being with this man for so long, she knew it was going to be _good. _Tearing into the package, she pulled out...

"A _land deed?"_

"Yes. Blair, I bought it."

"You..." Her entire face lit up. "No, Chuck, that's _impossible! _That owner was never going to sell!"

"Yes."

"But you've been trying to buy it for years!"

"It just came through. I plan to redevelop the whole site. Mixed residential and commercial. One of the best addresses in the city."

Blair smiled. "My brilliant man. I'm proud of you as always." Kiss. "But what does this have to do with me?"

"Everything, I hope. Because I'm naming it... for you."

She couldn't even _speak._

"Blair Bass Tower. A landmark on the New York skyline. All for you... because you believed in me when no one else did. Because you believe in me still. Because this is _still _just the beginning."

As he spoke, his hand slid along her jaw, then down her neck... which, with her hair up, looked incredibly enticing. He had to taste her there, for the millionth time. So he did.

Blair's hands threaded through his hair, then ran down his back. Even though his shirt was still on, Chuck savored the bite of her perfectly manicured nails.

"Chuck," she purred.

"Yes?" His voice was dark, filled with wonders, as well as promises that Blair intended to make him keep the second she threw his words from so long ago back at him...

"What do you say we christen _my _legacy?"

**~fin~**

**A/N: **Dedicated to Ellen (DrGG), who gave me this idea on Twitter. And for all my longsuffering Chair lovelies who have supported _Clair de Lune _since the beginning... know that I still love our Chuck and Blair! (Always have, always will!) You can expect a few more of these one-shots and outtakes over the weeks to come.

**XOXO, Dr. Holland**


End file.
